


It's All I Have to Bring Today

by orphan_account



Category: Black Clover - 田畠裕基 | Tabata Yuki
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-07 10:37:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14669328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Yuno presents as an omega, his dream is crushed. Everyone knows that omegas aren't allowed into the Magic Knights' ranks. But with Asta's help, Yuno may find a way to hide the truth of his nature.





	1. Fleur-de-lis

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from 'It's all I have to bring today' by Emily Dickinson:
> 
> 'It’s all I have to bring today—  
> This, and my heart beside—  
> This, and my heart, and all the fields—  
> And all the meadows wide—  
> Be sure you count—should I forget  
> Some one the sum could tell—  
> This, and my heart, and all the Bees  
> Which in the Clover dwell.'

Yuno often wakes with the dawn and tiptoes downstairs to help the adults set the breakfast table, leaving a snoring, drooling Asta to starfish out over the warm spot he leaves. He always pulls the blanket up over Asta and the little ones before he goes. The morning is one of his favorite times. In the morning, he can peer through the windows and marvel at the array of colors in the sky. Some days Sister Lily will come to stand beside him, joining him in looking out with a gentle smile. “ _ Aren’t God’s paintings so beautiful? _ ” She’ll murmur.

Today is not one of those days. Today, Yuno’s awakening is slow and sluggish. His eyelashes feel as if they’ve been glued together. His body is soaked in sweat, yet he can’t stop shivering. His head pounds relentlessly. 

_ A fever? _ He wonders. All the symptoms match up to an illness, except…

Yuno’s teeth sink into his lip as he becomes aware of the aching heat between his legs. He’s a teenage boy and he knows how it feels to wake with morning wood, or from a wet dream. This is not it. His arousal doesn’t feel like calm and sleepy molasses flowing through his veins. It feels sharp, urgent, painful. Just the brush of clothes and sheets against his skin feels both too much and not enough. The twitch of his length inside his sleeping pants, rubbing his underwear, makes him choke on an uncharacteristically pathetic sound.

He grits his teeth, claws his fingers into the blanket. A sideways glance tells him that Asta and the little ones are already up. They aren’t here to witness his mortification, thank goodness. He has time to figure out what’s wrong with him ―

Loud footsteps come thudding up the stairs. “YUNO!” Asta calls, his volume level piercing through Yuno’s skull. Yuno squeezes his eyes shut.

“Father said to get up ‘cause you’ve slept in enough already and you’re about to miss breakfast ―  whoa.” 

When Yuno reopens them, Asta is standing over him with his eyebrows scrunched up. “Your face is all red,” he says. Yuno can’t remember how to form words. All he can do is blink through glazed eyes. Asta drops down beside him, wrist coming up to press against his forehead. It feels cold. Something shudders low in Yuno’s belly.

Asta’s lips pull down into a frown. “What the heck, Yuno, you’re burning up! I’ll go get Sister Lily ― ” he tries to scramble to his feet, but something stops him. 

It takes a moment for Yuno to realize that his fingers are curled in Asta’s shirt. He’d reached out the moment Asta’s wrist left his skin. Having the soothing touch ripped away was unbearable. 

Yuno doesn’t know what’s going on. Only that Asta can make it better.

“...Yuno?”

A moan escapes Yuno. He drags Asta in closer until the blond’s face is in his neck. Asta nearly loses his balance and falls entirely on top of him, but his arm shoots to the floor by Yuno’s head and braces himself. 

Some instinct calls for Yuno to tilt his head to the side, expose all of his throat for the taking. He’s helpless to do anything but obey. 

“Oh,” Asta says. His tone is both surprised and strained. He inhales deeply. All of the hair on Yuno’s arms and the nape of his neck stands up. His whole body feels like it’s melting. His fingers weaken where they’re grasping Asta’s shirt, but the boy doesn’t move from where he’s hovering above Yuno. “You smell… w-weird...”

Yuno doesn’t feel like he’s sweating as much, yet he feels himself grow wetter down… lower, past his back. His cheeks burn bright and his breathing shakes.  _ What’s wrong with me? _ He can’t stop clenching on empty, can’t stop the flood of arousal through his system or his hips from rocking unsatisfactorily into thin air. He wants to pull Asta even closer, wants to slot their thighs together and ― he’s never thought of Asta in such a dirty way before and yet ―

Asta opens his mouth, lets his teeth graze Yuno’s throat, and he  _ whimpers. _

Then Asta is torn away from him. It’s like a bucket of ice water poured over Yuno’s head. His eyes snap open to the sight of a struggling Asta in Father’s arms, kicking and squirming and baring his teeth. Asta actually  _ growls  _ at him like an animal. Yuno is left in shock.

Father carries Asta out of the room, grunting as he takes an elbow to the face. Yuno’s head starts to clear. His face feels like a furnace, and his stomach feels sick with shame. Sister Lily kneels beside him. He can’t meet her eyes.

“What’s wrong with me?” He croaks.

“Oh, Yuno.” Sister Lily’s voice drips with sympathy. Yuno recognizes that tone. It’s the same tone she used when they all realized Asta would never be able to use magic. Suddenly, he can’t breathe. Her next words seem to come in slow motion.

“You’re going into your first heat. You’re an omega.”

That sentence marks the moment Yuno’s world comes crashing down. 

Yuno is left in stunned silence as Sister Lily explains to him how, rarely, boys can be omegas and girls can be alphas. Twenty-five percent of the population is made up of omegas, twenty-five percent is made up of alphas, and the other half is made up of betas. Anomalies like Yuno make up less than one percent of alphas and omegas. At least Sister Lily assures him that he can’t get pregnant, after he stammers out that horrifying question.

He still feels sick. He can barely hear her speak over the din of his racing thoughts. He doesn’t know what to do.

Everyone knows omegas aren’t allowed to become Magic Knights. It’s against the law. Their heats leave them too vulnerable in battle, according to most. They’re a liability. Weak. Meant to stay at home and watch the children.

Yuno can’t become the Wizard King.

He can’t fulfill his promise to Asta.

At some point, Sister Lily trails off, her face softening as she seems to realize he isn’t taking in a word she’s saying anymore. He’s quiet and dazed. She strokes a hand through his hair, and to his relief, the touch doesn’t make him burn inside like Asta’s had. 

“I’ll let you rest,” she murmurs. “Just let me get you some food and water. The little ones will be sleeping downstairs until your heat is over, and Asta will be in a separate room while he goes through his rut. Let Father and I know if you need anything at all, okay?”

It clicks. Asta is going into a rut. He’s presenting as an alpha. Yuno tastes jealousy like bile in his throat. 

Why couldn’t it be him?

He wonders if this is how Asta feels. He curls up, and buries his face in the pillow. He hears Sister Lily sigh softly, before the floorboards creak as she rises to her feet. Her footsteps pad away.

Yuno doesn't cry. He feels nothing, for a while.

*

The following week isn’t a good one, to say the least. Yuno is left cooped up in the bedroom, horny, miserable and lonely. The nights are the worst. He’s stuck tossing and turning, unable to sleep without his adoptive siblings’ warm bodies huddled around him, without Asta’s comforting snores in his ear.

Sister Lily takes pity on him and brings him books to read, but when he tries, the words all blur together. He reads page after page, but absorbs nothing, and eventually tosses his reading material away with a loud huff. He can focus on nothing but his body’s desperate plea to be touched. 

Yuno ignores it. Touching himself would feel like giving in. He hates feeling like this, like some sort of mindless animal. He’s better than that. He won’t lose himself to his instincts.

By the time it’s all over, Yuno counts that a week has passed. A  _ week. _

When he sees Asta again, the blond practically tackles him with a wail. He grabs his shoulders and aggressively shakes him. “Yunooo! It’s been so long since I’ve seen your dumb handsome face! They kept me in the bathroom, y’know, the  _ bathroom. _ Why did you get the bedroom?!” 

Asta continues to ramble, while Yuno stares at him, expressionless and dazed. 

“Asta,” he finally interrupts. He flounders for a moment, mouth opening and closing as he hesitates. He casts his eyes aside. “...Doesn’t this… change anything?”

“Huh?” 

Asta is clueless as ever, mouth hanging open and ready to catch flies. 

“The way I am,” Yuno grits out.

Asta blinks. He tilts his head even further for a moment, looking like some kind of puppy. Yuno isn’t sure whether it looks stupid or cute. Maybe both. Then, Asta’s face breaks out in his trademark grin. His eyes are shut, crinkled up kindly. His teeth are bared bright and his gums are pink. Yuno can’t tear his eyes away from the dimples in his soft cheeks.

“Nope! ― ” 

He squeezes Yuno’s shoulders. The touch sends warmth spiralling through his chest. 

“ ― Yuno is Yuno.”

...Maybe Yuno is the stupid one.

It’s that simple, huh?

*

 

“Yuno! Could you run an errand for me?”

It’s a warm, humid day in May. They’ve been busy all day, washing the church windows, doing the laundry and keeping an eye on the little ones. Maybe Sister Lily senses that Yuno could use a bit of air, and that’s why she asks him. 

When Yuno approaches, she smiles and passes him a hastily scrawled list and a handful of coins. It’s a meagre amount, but he’ll have to make it work. He’s ready for a short and easy trip. That’s when Asta comes bounding over, of course. 

“I can do it!” Asta jabs a thumb at his own chest, puffing up like an over-inflated balloon. “You can count on me, Sister!” 

“W-well… it doesn’t really matter who…” 

Sister Lily trails off as Asta attempts to grab the list from Yuno, who, stone-faced, holds it just out of reach. Asta huffs and puffs and hops up and down trying to reach. Yuno backs away, only for Asta to keep chasing him.

“Yunoo!” Asta screeches a battle cry, and that's all the warning Yuno has before he's being tackled down to the ground. The breath leaves his lungs in a whoosh. Despite his short stature, Asta is built like a brick shithouse. Yuno, on the other hand, is a twig. He grunts and shoves at Asta, feeling like the other boy's weight is gonna snap him in half.

They roll around in the grass, all knees and elbows kicking and shoving. At this point, Yuno is keeping the list away from Asta out of sheer stubbornness. It crumples under his fingers until it probably isn't even legible anymore.

“Asta ― Yuno ― ” Sister Lily hovers and frets, exasperated. She repeats their names, only to go ignored.

Asta's knee is digging into Yuno’s gut and his face is rubbing into his neck as he strains to reach the piece of paper in the taller boy’s hand. His familiar scent is almost overwhelming when Yuno inhales, but it's not unpleasant. He smells like something warm and faintly sweet, mixed with smoke. He headbutts Yuno’s jaw, and Yuno wonders if he'll have a bruise there later as he shoves at Asta’s cheek-

“ _ Asta! _ ” Sister Lily says, sharper. It's her authoritative voice, the one that promises trouble if they don't listen. She's scary, when she gets mad. When Asta freezes and peers over his shoulder, she has her hands planted on her hips.

“There’s no need for that. Both of you can go.”

Asta steals the opportunity to snatch the list from Yuno’s relaxed fingers while his guard is down. He hops up, grins, and tucks his prize in his pocket as he offers Yuno a hand up. 

Yuno takes it, lets Asta pull him to his feet. He could summon a breeze to pull the paper back to him, but he doesn't. He lets Asta have his little victory. 

He's still spitting grass from his mouth five minutes later as they walk to the market in silence. He can't escape the scent of Asta whenever he breathes in. It makes him feel… Strange. He grimaces and presses at the scent gland under his jaw.

“What?” Asta stares. He has pieces of grass in his hair. It's distracting. Yuno wants to pluck it out. His fingers twitch with the urge.

“You didn't have to rub all over me,” Yuno mutters. “You reek.”

“Hey!” Asta protests. He lifts his shirt up and sniffs it, revealing far too much of his muscular chest and stomach. Too much of his navel and hipbones. Yuno averts his eyes. “...I don't smell  _ that  _ bad,” he says self-consciously. 

Yuno doesn't reply.

The trip goes quickly. They buy the items Sister Lily has written, and argue over who gets to hold them. At one point, they stop at a stall with fresh baked goods such as bread rolls and pastries.

When they ask for a loaf of bread, handing over the coins for it, the lady smiles and busies herself with fetching a brown bag and putting the bread inside. Asta and Yuno are distracted by eyeing the array of pastries laid out before them. Cinnamon and apple drips from some of the slits on the tops of the perfectly golden brown crusts. A delicious, buttery aroma wafts from them, making their stomachs growl.

A moment later, the stall owner hands over the bag. “Here you go, boys,” she says kindly.

Yuno takes it before Asta can. He blinks as it occurs to him that it feels oddly heavy for just one loaf. He peers inside the bag, and spies two of the apple pastries neatly wrapped up inside in napkins, on top of the covered bread.

“Excuse me,” he says. “There must have been a mistake.”

“Oh, no.” The plump older woman grins, crow’s feet crinkling around her kind eyes. She dusts her flour-covered hands off on her apron. “No mistake. They're on the house.”

“Huh?” Asta glances between the baker and Yuno, before leaning over to peer into the bag.

“Thank you,” Yuno says politely.

“It's no problem. Two growing alphas like yourselves need plenty of nourishment!”

Two… what?

Asta and Yuno exchange glances with their eyebrows scrunched up and heads tilted. “Actually,” Asta starts to say, “Yuno’s ― ”

“A beta,” Yuno cuts in. Asta shoots him an odd look.

“Oh!” The woman’s eyes widen. “My mistake. You two must be close, your scents are so mixed that I can’t tell.” She becomes distracted as a family of three approach the stall, considering the array of baked goods and shifting impatiently.

“Well, we’ll be off!” Asta says, tugging Yuno’s wrist. The boy hardly moves at first, standing stock-still as the gears in his mind furiously turn.

“Take care,” the baker calls. 

“Thanks, miss!” 

They make it a good distance away before Asta whirls on him. His eyes flash, he puffs his cheeks and chest out. “Yuno!” He complains, stomping forward and getting right in his face. “Lying isn’t right!” He starts to ramble on and on:  _ what would Sister Lily and Father say, that lady was so nice to us too, why would you _ _ ― _

“Asta,” Yuno interrupts. “That’s not the point.” He’s powerless to stop the shaky smile that cracks open the still facade of his lips. 

“She thought I was an alpha.” 

Asta is caught off guard. His hackles lower. 

“Yeah?” He scratches his cheek, tilts his head. He doesn’t get it, but he knows anything that can get Yuno to smile like that is significant. He lowers the bundle of goods from his chest to squint at him. He knows Yuno, and he knows that right now, that look on him is  _ hope _ .

“I…” Yuno squares his shoulders, lifts his chin. His teeth are pearly as he flashes them. The sparkle in his eye is back. “Can become a magic knight. No...”

“The Wizard King.” 


	2. Dandelion Tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter! It just seemed like it needed to be on its own rather than meshed into one chapter with the next one. So, if you haven't noticed, I changed the chapter count to three. Next one will be the last, and it'll be smutty :)

“But like all good rebels, the dandelions are irrepressible.” —Guido Masé

 

“Do I really smell that bad?”

They're tucked away in a secluded area behind the church as they enact Yuno's plan. As far as he's concerned, the omega in Yuno is dead. No one outside the church can know what he is.

But, well, Yuno hadn't taken into account how much _touching_ this would involve. Asta's words are murmured into the hollow of his throat as he leans up on his tiptoes to scent him. Yuno has to lean down to put his scent glands in reach. While usually this would give him a great sense of satisfaction at brandishing his height over Asta, now, all it does is make him feel off-kilter. Asta’s mouth brushes his jaw, and Yuno’s stomach swoops like he's falling. Asta’s warm breath tickles. It makes the hair on Yuno’s nape stand straight up.

His eyes dart around, checking for anyone intruding on this. He doesn't know how they would even begin to explain. Sister Lily or Father would assume they had snuck away to neck. Which… technically isn't all that far off from what they're doing, but with less kissing. Yuno doesn't know why that thought makes him feel awkward and prickly all over. As if he would ever kiss Asta.

“Oi, Yuno, don't ignore me,” Asta complains. He doesn't stop rubbing his face on Yuno like a cat. He seems unfairly unbothered by the intimate action, like it's just an everyday occurrence.

Yuno sighs. He can't exactly say, _you smell delicious._

“You smell like a bakery,” he says instead. “Mixed with a bonfire.”

Asta rocks back onto his heels and takes Yuno's hand, moving onto the scent glands in his wrists. His warm fingers are rough with calluses where they curl, firm but gentle, over Yuno’s skin. He tilts his head and brings Yuno's hand to his cheek, rubbing his jaw against his wrist.

“Huh? What's wrong with that? I bet you're just jealous that I smell better than you.” Asta grins and meets Yuno's eyes unflinchingly, even as he performs an action normally reserved for couples and parents with their newborn children.

Yuno curls his fingers so that it feels a little less like he's tenderly cradling Asta’s cheek.

“Idiot. I don't know what I smell like.”

Asta blinks, and moves his head to sniff Yuno's wrist. His face twists like he's trying to work out a puzzle. He inhales deeper. Yuno's cheeks burn.

After a moment, Asta's eyes light up like he's solved the mysteries of the universe and he perks.

“A library!” He says, far too loudly.

Yuno feels a spike in his heart rate. He clamps a hand over Asta's mouth and glances around until he's satisfied that no one has heard them and come to see what they're up to.

He relaxes. Asta licks his hand, so he grimaces and wipes it on his pants.

“So I smell dusty,” Yuno mutters.

“What? No.” Asta huffs and reaches for Yuno's other wrist to repeat the process. “It's nice. Your magic is strong, you're cool, you're handsome, _and_ you smell nice, damn it…”

Yuno's stomach feels weird. Sometimes, he wishes Asta wouldn't be so generous with his compliments.

“So what about your heats?” Asta wonders when they're done.

“What about them?” Yuno asks, narrowing his eyes.

“Well…” Asta rubs the back of his neck. “It's not like you can hide it every three months. They'll get suspicious.”

“I can hide it,” Yuno says stubbornly. “I'll just say I'm sick.” He looks away. He knows, better than Asta, that it's not the best of plans. But he'll have to play it by ear.

His plan hangs by so many strings, including whether or not Asta can even make it into the Magic Knights with him. But… Yuno can't help it.

It's his only choice.

*

It doesn't take long for the others to notice that Yuno is being thoroughly scent-marked each day, naturally. He can only walk around smelling like Asta for so long before Sister Lily pulls him aside and gently inquires into matters.

So naturally, Yuno rubs the back of his neck, averts his eyes, and shyly “confesses” to his and Asta’s “relationship.” Lying to her leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, but he can't afford to have her or Father discouraging him from his plan.

What follows is the most excruciating conversation Yuno has ever experienced, involving Sister Lily cautioning him about the dangers of premarital… relations. He stares into the distance with the air of a suffering man. He only manages to escape after thoroughly assuring her that, no, he definitely won't be having any sinful encounters with Asta anytime soon.

It's worth it though when, later, Yuno spies Sister Lily taking an oblivious Asta aside in the same manner. He locks eyes with Asta, mouthing, ‘good luck’ with great satisfaction. Asta blinks like an innocent lamb being led to the slaughter. He has no idea what he's in for.

Later, an indignant screech of his name is the only warning that Yuno gets before he's tackled into the grass and clover. Asta's weight is heavy on his back.

“YUNO!” Asta shrieks right in his ear. “What kind of stuff are you telling Sister, damn it?! She thinks we’re- we’re-”

“A couple,” Yuno drawls, turning his face to avoid a mouthful of dandelions.

“Exactly!” Asta shouts. “I said we aren't and she wouldn't believe me! She kept saying I didn't have to be embarrassed, and Yuno, she thinks we're _doing it!_ How can I ever get Sister Lily to marry me now?!”

Yuno's lips twitch. “Sorry,” he says, though somehow he's not all that sorry about ruining Asta's already nonexistent chances with the nun. “I had to. It was the only excuse I could think of.”

“Why do you need an excuse?” Asta grumbles. He rolls off Yuno to lie on his back in the grass.

Yuno follows suit. There's a green patch under his head giving him a halo of clover. He watches the kids playing. They seem so far away, just specks in the distance.

Yuno sits up.

“Help me pick these,” he says, gesturing to the dandelions around them. He was working on gathering the roots before Asta interrupted. It's the only kind of tea they can afford to make at the orphanage.

Asta obliges.

*

Disappointed doesn't even begin to describe how Yuno feels when Asta’s hands come up empty at the Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony. Maybe that's the reason why he bites out such painful words and turns before he can even see the look on Asta's face.

_You are not my rival._

Yuno squeezes his eyes shut as he walks, hardly paying attention to where he's going. He can feel the weight of his grimoire at his waist. It's a four-leaf clover, rare, _powerful,_ and yet it means nothing. Without Asta, he can't keep his dynamic a secret. He can't become a Magic Knight. It's a sickening awakening back to reality.

 _At least we can be failures together,_ Yuno thinks sardonically. Only moments before he's challenged over his grimoire, then bound in chains by a thief.

What follows is a chain of events that begins with the terror that Asta, who runs in recklessly to rescue Yuno like always, will get himself killed.Watching the chain pierce through Asta is one of the worst moments of Yuno’s life, reminding him of watching him be beaten while protecting him as a child, reminding him of being _helpless._ He had sworn he would never feel like that again. He wouldn't let Asta get hurt for his sake again. And yet…

He can see the moment the light in Asta’s eyes starts to bleed out, his fire extinguishing. Even he has a limit, and he's been beaten down by the world too many times.

So Yuno calls out to him, takes back those god awful words from earlier.

“Asta… is my rival!”

Just like that, Asta’s spirit roars back to life. He’s beautiful with that fierce grin back on his face where it belongs.

It ends with a tattered grimoire in Asta's hands, the criminal unconscious at his feet, and Yuno's awe in his childhood friend and _rival_ brought anew.

Under the light of the setting sun, with twin joyful grins, they renew their promise.


End file.
